Ahead of Kyiv: Bosnian politics a reliable NATO ally unlike Croatian

(Patria) - According to Bosnian media reports, members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić and Denis Bećirović will visit the Republic of Ukraine, which is affected by Russian aggression.

Although speculation about the possibility of a visit to Ukraine by members of the BiH Presidency existed during the previous term of the BiH Presidency, it now seems that the visit will indeed be realized.

We recall that immediately after the outbreak of Russian aggression against Ukraine, thanks to pro-Bosnian votes in the BiH Presidency, the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina officially condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine through the United Nations and the Council of Europe.

The decisive factor at that moment in the BiH Presidency was the vote of BiH Presidency member Željko Komšić, who was explicit in that type of decision.

However, not all political actors who today nominally condemn Russian aggression were so resolute. HDZ leader Dragan Čović, following the policy of Milorad Dodik, long hesitated to condemn Russian aggression. Representatives of Čović's HDZ on several occasions refused to vote in the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the condemnation of Russian aggression.

Yet, for the domestic public, this was not a surprise, given that HDZ leader Dragan Čović, with gestures of deep bowing, met with the Russian Foreign Minister in Sarajevo, precisely on the day when BiH Presidency members Željko Komšić and Šefik Džaferović refused to officially meet with Sergey Lavrov after the Russian diplomat grossly violated the dignity and integrity of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Čović bowing to Lavrov

We recall that Lavrov had met with Milorad Dodik in East Sarajevo the day before, without state symbols.

Thus, Komšić and Čović, two years before the Russian aggression against Ukraine, showed what they think about aggressive Russian policy. Although this was not properly valorized by Western allies, viewed from this distance in time, Komšić's move was correct and could not have been different given the official foreign policy strategy and orientation of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Contrary to that, those who were rewarded by Western allies for destructive politics and for supporting great Russian hegemony acted differently, primarily referring to Dragan Čović, leader of HDZ BiH, and the President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović.

Milanović, who tirelessly supports the separatist politics of HDZ BiH and Milorad Dodik, from the beginning of the great Russian aggression against Ukraine, unlike Komšić, stood on the side of the Russian aggressor.

Therefore, the question arises as to why certain representatives of Western countries are politically isolating BiH Presidency member Željko Komšić, who has proven to be a reliable NATO partner, unlike the leader of the Republic of Croatia, who undermines trust in the NATO alliance in the region.

Perhaps the visit to Kyiv is a good opportunity to raise the question at the highest international level: who in the Western Balkans threatens the stability of the region and proclaims values contrary to Euro-Atlantic ones, and who remains faithful to them even in a situation when Western allies, through their policies, cause disappointments to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

If Western allies in Bosnia and Herzegovina were to rely only on those who have recently benefited from the West, the Euro-Atlantic perspective of BiH would be completely non-existent. Because it is not the political allies of Zoran Milanović in Bosnia and Herzegovina who preserve the Euro-Atlantic perspective of BiH, but on the contrary, Milanović's political opponents, Komšić, Bećirović, and other Bosnian politicians.

(M.T.)